Anise Drops

On the Ninth Day of Christmas The Busty Baker baked for me… Anise Drops!

I love black licorice. Everyone thinks I’m weird, but I don’t care. I absolutely love any kind of black licorice flavor. At Easter, I’m the one picking the black jelly beans out to eat first before any other color. I carry black licorice flavored Altoids with me at all times (and I’m sad I can only find them at 1 store now). I have probably 3 bottles of anise extract in my cabinet. One of my favorite winter seasonal flavors at Jeni’s Ice Cream was Anise and Candied Fennel (although I don’t think they had it last year, and I haven’t been by this year to see if it’s back). Almost everyone I know (except Boyfriend) gags at the thought of black licorice, but I’m okay with that. It just means more for me!

When I was thinking about what kind of Christmas cookies I wanted to make, I thought of Pizzelle. I absolutely love the anise flavored Pizzelle, but unfortunately, I don’t have a Pizzelle iron. So I settled on the closest I could get to the flavor—Anise Drops. With a crispy outer layer and a soft, chewy center, they have just a hint of licorice goodness to them. Now if only I had a little anise seed to sprinkle on top before they baked, we’d be in business! Ooh or some of that delicious candied fennel Jeni uses in her ice cream.

I’m going to have to make another batch of these to share with Boyfriend, because I’m probably going to eat this whole batch all by myself. Yum!

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Anise Drops
From Martha Stewart.com and Martha Stewart's Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen



1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon coarse salt
3 large eggs
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 teaspoon anise extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.
2. With an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat eggs on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar until incorporated, about 3 minutes. (Mixture should look pale and fluffy by this point.) Mix in anise extract. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture. Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch plain tip. Pipe 1 ¾-inch rounds onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. (I piped the batter into swirls measuring 1 ¾-inches across.)
3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops crack and cookies are very pale, 8 to 9 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.